Brand community identification matters: a dual value-creation routes framework
| Published date | 18 July 2019 |
| Pages | 289-306 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2018-1747 |
| Date | 18 July 2019 |
| Author | Chia-Wen Chang,Chih-Huei Ko,Heng-Chiang Huang,Shih-Ju Wang |
Brand community identification matters: a dual
value-creation routes framework
Chia-Wen Chang
Department of International Business, National Taipei University of Business, Taipei, Taiwan
Chih-Huei Ko
Department of Marketing and Logistics, Chihlee University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
Heng-Chiang Huang
Department of International Business, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, and
Shih-Ju Wang
Graduate Institute of Management, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –A brand community consists of relationships between a brand and consumers; community members’identification with the brand
community is a central characteristic of the community. This study aims to provide a comprehensive conceptual framework to investigate how and
why such identification-based relationships yield firm- and member-level benefits to participants in the brand community.
Design/methodology/approach –This cross-sectional study analyzes data collected through a questionnaire survey ofmembers from the brand
community of VW-Golf Club members in Taiwan. The researchers attended the annual meeting of club members and handed out questionnaires
directly to the members. The degree centrality of each member was calculated using UCINET 6 for Windows, a social network analysis software
application. This study adopts the partial least squares program to evaluate the measurement properties and structural relationships speci fied in the
research model.
Findings –The findings suggest that when customers’identification with a brand community becomes salient, they strengthen their emotional
attachment to the brand and improve their centrality in the network. Consequently, emotional attachment can serve as a guiding principle in
decision-making and thus strengthen brand equity and assessment of brand extensions. Central members will also gain greater benefits, including
collaborative opportunities and influence, through their advantageous position in the network.
Originality/value –This study makes four main contributions to the brand community literature. First, this is the first empirical study to
simultaneously examine the relationships among community identification (customer to community), emotional attachment to the brand (customer
to brand) and network centrality (customer to customer). Second, the empirical framework depicts dual value-creation routes that explain how
identification-based relationships can yield firm- and member-level benefits. With respect to firm-level benefits, this is the first empirical study to
examine the brand equity and assessment of brand extension in the brand community research. Third, this study applies the rarely adopt ed UCINET
6 software to scrutinize the network data from the brand community. Finally, this paper examines three actions that organizations can leverage to
enhance consumer identification with a brand community.
Keywords Brand community, Brand equity, Network centrality, Collaborative opportunities, Community identification,
Emotional attachment to the Brand
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
With the recognizable popularity of participant-based brand
communities in recent decades, leading firms have come to realize
the marketing efficacy of these communities and seek to enhance
these community influences even further. Brand community
research has gained prominence in the past decade, because of the
increasing complexities of modern business operations and
the expected goal of profit-gaining (Heere et al.,2011;
Madupu and Cooley, 20 10). Intensified competition and the
high cost of attract ing new customers have driven companie s
to establish long-term relationship with customers. Brand
communities represent an effective strategy to develop and
maintain strong relationships with consumers (O’Donnell
and Brown, 2012). In addition, brand communities may
significantly affect important marketing variables such as
brand relationship quality, branding co-creation, and brand
loyalty (Habibi et al., 2016;Hajli et al., 2017;Hung, 2014).
Building and mainta ining a strong brand community has n ow
Thecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableon
Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
29/3 (2020) 289–306
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-02-2018-1747]
Received 8 February 2018
Revised 8 February 2018
21 July 2018
16 January 2019
10 April 2019
9 June 2019
Accepted 14 June 2019
289
become a crucial marketing strategy for companies (Özbölük
and Dursun, 2017).
Building successful brand communities remains a challenge
for marketing managers, even consideringthe intrinsic value of
such communities. Brand identity and value is traditionally
developed and controlled by management and stakeholders.
Recent research views value-buildingasa set of ongoing social,
economic and cultural interactionsbetween articulations of the
consumer, brand, and community identity (Kornum et al.,
2017;Lury, 2004). Black and Veloutsou (2017)proposed that
individuals, brandsand brand identities are co-created through
the involvement of working consumers. Stimulating
identification of members with their communities is at the core
of their later success. Communitymembers’identification with
a brand community is a central characteristic (Matzler et al.,
2011). Many studies have examined the relationship between
brand community identification and consumer behavior
(Algesheimer et al.,2005;Katz et al.,2018;Matzleret al.,2011;
Simon et al.,2016). The popular Harley Owners Group, for
example, exemplifies the positive aspects of a brand
community, as do other successful cases (e.g. the Macintosh
user group, Star Wars fans, Sun’s Javacenter community), and
as such, many firms make significant investments in building
and facilitating brand communities (Almeida et al., 2013;
Wang and Ding, 2017).
Brand community identification has long been considered a
critical precursor to community members’positive brand
attitudes, buying intention, actual purchasing behavior, brand
commitment, and brand loyalty (Dessart et al.,2015; Habibi
et al., 2016, Mousavi et al., 2017;Zhou et al.,2012). To
manage establishment and evolution of brand communities,
companies need to improve understanding of how a brand
community creates benefits for firms and customers alike.The
cultivation of community identification can be fruitful for
members in two ways. Members may form a strong and
enduring emotional attachment to the brand. They can also
foster close ties with other community members, thus
sustaining or strengtheningtheir influences within the nexus of
interpersonal interactions. Based on social identitytheory and
social network theory, this study providesa dual value-creation
routes framework that considers how and why such
identification-based relationships yield benefits for
participants;namely, the company and the customers.
This study pursues three goals. First, it providesa framework
for understanding how a brand communitygenerates firm-level
benefits to a company. Given the new role of consumers as co-
creators of the brand, brands have started to focus on a more
relational perspective,where much of a brand’s value is a result
of external relationships,namely brand–consumer relationships
(Fernandes and Moreira, 2019). The marketing literature has
increased attention to emergingdynamics in consumer–brand
affective relationship-buildingprocesses within communities
(Vernuccio et al.,2015). Prior brand community research paid
little attention to the conception of brand attachment in the
minds of consumers (Swimberghe et al.,2018). A brand
community is a community of brand loversbound together by a
common love for a brand (Banerjeeand Banerjee, 2015, p. 22).
Emotional bondingis aconsumer-centric, relational,and story-
driven approach to forging deep and lasting affective bonds
between consumersandbrands (Thompson et al.,2006, p. 50).
Many studies have explored the relationship betweenbrand
community identification and brand loyalty in the brand
community (Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen, 2010;Pai and Tsai,
2011;Millán and Díaz, 2014;Stokburger-Sauer, 2010). Brand
community identification is also expected to have other
commercial merits, such as members’discretionary or
citizenship behaviors, including in-role behavior (e.g.
purchasing the brand/product) and extra-role behavior (e.g.
helping others with feedback, making recommendations,and
engaging in positive word-of-mouth (WOM)) (Ho, 2015).
Building strong brand assets is an importantobjective for many
organizations. However, the process by which community
identification affects brand assets remainsunderexplored. This
study proposes that when customers’identification with a
brand community becomes salient, they form deep and long-
lasting emotional attachments to the brand. Consequently,
emotional attachment becomesa guiding principle in decision-
making, thus strengthening brand assets, including brand
equity and assessment of brand extension (i.e. category-
extension productscarrying the logo of the brand).
Second, this study provides a framework for understanding
how a brand community provides member-level benefits to
customers. Consumers with passionate feelings towards a
brand are expected to engage more actively in relationships
with both the brand and with other likeminded individuals
around the brand (Fetscherin et al.,2019). Schau et al. (2009)
identify and categorize co-creative practices from a consumer-
centric perspective. To ensure the health of the brand
community, Schau et al. (2009) suggest that a firm should
foster or sponsor social networking practices to build and
sustain the communityand to inspire further co-creation. Kaur
et al. (2018) suggest that social enhancement and social
interaction influence users’intention to continue using online
social media brand communities. In brand communities,
consumers seek to give meaning to their lives and develop a
sense of self through the socialties that they develop with other
consumers who have a similar passion for the brand (Özbölük
and Dursun, 2017).
To date, scant literature examines the nature of member-
level benefits in brand communities. This study turns to the
literature on social network analysis to fill that gap. Social
network researcherssuggest that a member’s position in a social
network can create intangible relational assets or social capital
(Bell, 2005;Frazier and Niehm, 2004;Yang et al.,2016).
Brand communities are one of many options in which
individuals can gather in groups to build and foster social
relationships and thus maximize their social capital
(Stokburger-Sauer, 2010). This study proposes that when
customers’identification with a brand community becomes
salient, their centrality in the network improves.Through their
advantageous position in the network, central members will
gain greater benefits, including opportunities, information and
influence.
Third, this study explores the antecedents of community
identification. Consumers’brand community identification is
considered an important key to brand community success and
brand loyalty (Chang et al., 2013;L
opez et al.,2017).
Accordingly, factors that determine consumers’identification
with brand communitiesneed tobeidentified (Marzocchi et al.,
2013;Zhou et al.,2012). Based on a review of the community
Dual value-creation routes framework
Chia-Wen Chang et al.
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 29 · Number 3 · 2020 · 289–306
290
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